Current content and communication platforms are generally slow, fail to focus on the interests of the individual users, and do not enable collaborative engagement between users. For example, written text in the form of text messages and e-mail is a slow form of communication. At best, a professional typist typically can only type up to 50 to 80 words per minute. Further, text messages and e-mails are frequently misinterpreted by the recipient, thereby causing conflict between users. More recently, text messages and e-mails are employed to harass or “bully” unsuspecting recipients. With the proliferation of social media networks this problem has been exacerbated by recipients frequently receiving unwanted and sometimes unpleasant messages.
Similarly, social media networks fail to focus on an individual user interests and alienate users. For example, sifting through news feeds for topics relevant and interesting to a user is time consuming. Social media network feeds are filled with streams of content that is not focused to each individual user that views the feed. More frequently, users blindly post unfocused and irrelevant messages causing lack of engagement amongst users.
The prior art has attempted to solve these problems with limited success. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,716,376 to Price, et al. discloses a method for enabling users to exchange content which allows several users to collectively group together to view the same streaming video. The video is synchronized on the client devices and provides an environment in which users may exchange commentary. The users may send text, graphics, or other media to one another over a network during the video. However, the exchanged media is superimposed over the streamed video resulting in an overlap of content and miscommunication of messages between users.
U.S. Publication No. 2012/0321271 to Baldwin, et al. discloses a method of providing commentary for media content to media presentation devices wherein the commentary data received comprises a stream of audio and/or video data, one or more of text, markup content, and one or more software triggers. The method also comprises receiving a user input from the commentator requesting to view other commentary generated by a member of a social network of the requesting viewer, and sending a request to the commentary server for such commentary. However, like Price, the method in Baldwin overlays the commentary onto the main media content resulting in miscommunication of messages between users.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for a content distribution platform for faster communication that focuses on individual user interests for accelerated user engagement. What is needed in the art is a video messaging platform that eliminates miscommunicated emotions through written text and a direct distribution platform that enables users to receive relevant content tailored to the interests of each user, thereby holding the attention of each user and enabling collaboration between users.